During its mid-January stretch, the Cazenovia ice hockey team would find itself face-to-face with the powers in the Division II American Conference, and take a pair of defeats.
The Lakers hosted defending Section III champion Auburn last Tuesday at the Morrisville State IcePlex, and despite a good start, it saw the Maroons, especially Jake Morin, take over in the latter stages to beat Cazenovia 5-2.
After an up-and-down start, Auburn had started to find its top form, handing then-unbeaten New Hartford its first defeat of the season, 4-2, on Jan. 9, and the Maroons would not have a letdown against the Lakers.
Defenses mostly ruled in the first period, but Cazenovia grabbed a 1-0 lead late in the frame when, at the 12:07 mark, Colin McGaugh found the net.
Auburn tied, it, 1-1, early in the second period, only to have Adam Race answer at the 9:11 mark to put Cazenovia back in front, McGaugh picking up the assist. Alex Hunt and Jake Stowell also had assists by that point in the game.
Right before the period ended, though. The Maroons scored twice and moved out in front for good. Then it tacked on a pair of insurance goals in the third period, finally wearing down the Lakers’ defenses as goaltender Cameron Fry had to make 42 saves.
Morin led the comeback, pouring in three goals for the hat trick and adding an assist, while Kaiden Tubbert (who had three goals against New Hartford) produced a career-best four assists.
Following this, Cazenovia would pay a visit to Allyn Arena for a Laker showdown Friday night against Skaneateles, who was no. 2 in the latest state Division II rankings.
And for a while, Cazenovia hung in there, but could not maintain its strong form throughout the contest, ultimately taking a 4-1 defeat.
Both sides battled for the puck until, near the midway point of the first period, Brendan Whalen scored to give Cazenovia a 1-0 lead. It held until the 11:02 mark of the period, when Raymond Falso evened it up for Skaneateles.
Just 34 seconds into the second period, Cazenovia had a power play, but Skaneateles’ Owen Kuhns stole the puck, passed to Brendan Major and saw Major beat Ryan McCann for the go-ahead goal.
Again, special teams hurt the visitors when, with 1:32 left in the second period, Reggie Buell scored on the power play. McCann had a strong night in the net, recording 33 saves and keeping Cazenovia within sight, but Skaneateles put things away when Buell found the net for a second time with less than five minutes left.
At 5-7-1 on the season, Cazenovia returns to the IcePlex Tuesday night to face Cortland-Homer, and is on the road to face Ontario Bay two nights later.
